Airship.



J. SPARKS.

v AIRSHIP;

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1911.

1,010,324. 3 Patented Nov. 28,1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

JSPa/rk 8.

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J; SPARKS.

AIRSHIP.

J. SPARKS.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1911. 1',O10,324. Patented Nov. 28, 1911'.

3 spun-suns: s. I 70 111.121. 6 I u L UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

J'OSIAH SPARKS, 015 UNIVERSITY PLACE, NEBRASKA.

AIRSHIP.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSIAH SPARKS, a citizen of the United States,residing at University Place, in the county of Lancaster and State ofNebraska, have invented certain n W and useful Improvements in Airships,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying "drawings.

My invention relates to new and'useful improvements in the art of aerialnavigation and more particularly to the construction of an aerial vesselor air ship which will. be practically operative, and my object is toprovide a ship of this character which, although not buoyant, will beadapted to fly through the air.

and more particularly A further object is to provide the device withsuch strength as to withstand the extremely heavy pressure which thesame will encounter in its course and to provide for the dirig-ibilityof the same, and by the latter, I mean the ability to direct the courseof the machine upwardly, downwardly and in all directions.

A still further object resides in providing the device with top, frontand rear propel' lers and to provide the machine with twin engines foroperationof the propellers.

A further object of the invention resides in providing means whereby theengines may be operated'independently or in conjunction with one anotherfor the operation of the propellers.

Still another object of the invention resides in providing pivotallymounted wings and arachutes on the device to aid the same in safelydescending.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the novelfeatures of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as willbe hereinafter referred to pointed out in the specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, Figurelis a front elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a top plan View thereofwith the upper plane removed. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinalsection as seen on line 3-3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective ofone end of the machine showing the parachute and wing thereon, and, Fig.5 is a detail pers ective view-showing .theoperating lever or the Incarrying out my invention, I shall re- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 6, 1911.

'tating,

Patented Nov. 28, 1911.

Serial No. 625,446.'

parts throughout the several views and in which 1 and 2 indicate,respectively, upper and lower planes which may be made of any desiredmaterial which is light and strong, said planes being spaced apart bymeans of the vertical side and end bars 3. planes are braced by means ofthe usual brace wires 1 to the vertical bars, said lower plane beingsomewhat shorter than the upper plane, and said lower plane has mountedthereon, the axles 5, upon the ends of which are carried the wheels 6,whereby the device may be readily moved on the ground.

Mounted on the longitudinal center of the machine and extending throughthe upper and lower planes adjacent their ends, are the vertical shafts7 and 8, said shafts being rotatably mounted in the bearings 9 on saidplanes, and the upper ends of said shafts which extend beyond the upperplane 1, have mounted thereon, the propellers 10 and 11, respectively.Extending transversely of the machine and rotatably mounted in thebearings 12 on the end vertical bars of the same, are the horizontalshafts 13 and 14, said shafts extending a short distance beyond thefront and rearof the planes, and each has mounted on the ends thereof,the propellers 15 and 16, respectively.

Mounted on the lower plane 2 on opposite sides of the transverse centerthereof, are the engines 17 and 18, respectively, which drive,respectively, through the medium of the belts 19 and 20, the transverseshafts 21 and 22. These transverse shafts are rotatably mounted inbearings 23, on the bracing bars ofthe machine the same being positioneda short distance above the lower plane 2, and mounted oneach of saidshafts 21 and 22, isa" pair of. 2i and 25, said pulleys or drums'bemgpositioned adj acent the ends of their respective shafts. Extending overthe pulleys or drums 24 and 25,respect1vely, are the belts 26 and 27which also extend over the similar drums or pulleys 28 and 29, on eachof the transverse propeller shafts 13 and 14, and the drums 24 and theshafts 21 and 22, so as not to normally rotate said shafts when the sameare robut a clutch 29 is provided for each of said drums on said shafts21 and 22 which are operable by means of a lever 30,whereby said drumsmay be moved into operative drums or pulleys These connection with theshafts to rotate therewith.

The shafts-21 and 22 are also provided, respectively, with additionaldrums 31 and 32, over which extend the endless belts 33 and 34,saidbelts also extending over the drums 35 and 36, respectively,mounted'on the vertical propeller shafts 7 and 8, and the drums 31 and32 are also loosely mounted on their respective shafts, but in order toallow said drums to rotate with the same, the clutches 37 are provided,which are operable by means of a lever 38, whereby said drums andcorrespondingly the shafts 7 and 8 may be rotated with the shafts 21 and22,

p when desired. As before stated, the shafts .21 and 22 are driven,respectively, by the engines 17 and 18 through the medium of the belts19 and 20,but I havealso provided for the conjunctive operation of saidshafts from either one engine or the other, and to this extent, Iprovide said shafts with additional clutch mechanisms 39 and 40 whichhave connection with one another through the medium of a chain or thelike 41. These clutches may be thrown into and out of eifective positionby means of the levers 42 and 43, respectively, and thus, it will beseen thatthe sets of propellers on one side of the machine may beoperated without the operation of the other set, or all of thepropellers, may be operated through the operation of one of the engines,whereby it will beseen that provision has been made for 'any possibilityof accidents to the various propellers, or to one engine or the other.

Mounted about centrally of the lower plane 2, is a seat 44 adapted tocarry one or more passengers, as desired, and the levers which haveheretofore been described, are, of course, all positioned in -convenientpoints adjacent the seat. It will 'also be understood that thecontrolling devices for;

the engines 17 and 18 are positioned adjacent the seat so that the speedof said engines may be .readily regulated by the operator, and thus, oneengine may be caused to operate with more or less speed than the other,if desired, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described,

Extending longitudinally the full length of the upper plane and beyondthe ends thereof, is a shaft 44 rotatably mounted in said wires beingenga ed with the lever above and below the pivotal point, respec--tively, whereby when said lever 1s moved in one direction, both wingswill be raised, and whe-r'inoved in the other direction, the same willbe lowered. However, when the lever is moved in a direction at rightangles to the direction which disposes the wings upwardly anddownwardly, said shaft 44' Wlll be rotated in its bearings, therebydisposing said wings .at angles to the planes 79 of the front and rearof the machine, and it will be seen that when disposed at these variousangles, said wings will aid in the various movements of the machine.Also carried by the machine on the vertical end parachutes may be' ofany desired shape 80 and size and are formed on collapsible frames 50and 51, respectively, which frames have connection, in any desiredmanner, to

'anadditional lever 52," whereby the same may be opened and closed atwill. Both the levers 47 and 52 are also disposed in convenient placesadjacent the seat 44, whereby the same may be readily grasped by theoperator for the purpose of raising and lowering the wings and openingand closing the parachutes.

In operatlon, the engines are first started with all the clutches beingthrown out of their eflective positions, and when it is desired toascend at an angle upwardly, the

clutches 29' and 37 are thrown into their effective positions by meansof the levers 30 and '38, respectively, whereupon the vertical shafts 7and 8 and the horizontal shafts 13 and 14 will be rotated to,correspondingly, 1'00 rotate the propeller blades thereon. The rotationof the propeller blades on the horizontal shafts will cause the machineto be driven forwardly, and the simultaneous rotation of the blades onthe vertical shafts will cause the machine to ascend, sothat the samewill rise upwardly and travel for-' wardly at the same time. Afterreaching a considerable height in the air, theoperator.

-may release the clutch 37 to stop the rota- 11 tion of the verticalpropeller shafts and increase the speed of the engine so as to propelthe horizontal shafts at a greater rate of speed and the machine maysoar at this height, and when it is desired to descend, 11 the speed ofthe front and rear propellers may be decreased and the clutches 37 againthrown into effective position so as to rotate the top propellers at aslow-rate of speed and thus, the machine will descend at an' angle. Inthe lowering of the machine, the

parachutes may be thrown into their open positions so as to catch thebreeze and allow the machine tobe lowered gently, and in both theraising and lowering of the machine, the wings 45 and 46 may also beused to aid in guiding the same.

As just stated, the moving of both the clutches 29' and 37 into theireffective positions, causes the machine to ascend at an 'dent,becomedisabled, it will be angle, but it will be readily understood thatthe machine may also ascend in a substantially clutches 37 into theireffective positions, which will rotate the top ropellers, and when themachine has reac led the proper or desired height, the clutches 29 maybe thrown into their effective positions to rotate the front and rearpropellers, whereby the machine may be driven forwardly at the salnetime, and with the lowering of the speed of the engine and with the aidof the wings, the machine may be allowed to soar, as before described.

I have shown'no particular steering means for the machine and to thisextent, the controlling of the engines are used for that purpose. It hasbeen stated that the controlling means of the engines are positionedadjacent the seat and thus, one of the motors may be run faster than theother at any time desired, whereby when it is, desired to turn themachine in one direction, the speed of one of the engines is increased,while when it is desired to turn in the opposite direction, the speed ofthe opposite engine is increased. Should one of the engines, by acciseenthat by merely drawing the clutches 39 and 40 into their efl'ectivepositions by means of the levers 42 and 43, the.sets of propellers onboth ends of the machine may be run by the other engine, and should bothengines become disabled, which is an extraordinary and improbableincident, the parachutes and wings may be thrown into their extendedpositions and it will be seen that the machine may be gently lowered tothe ground without liability of accident. It willthus be seen that themachine may be under perfect control at all times.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have constructed an aerialvessel which is practically operative. Furthermore, it will be seen thatthe position of the propellers and the means for operating the same willtransmit ascensional and descensional'force and will cause the machineto be driven forwardly.

It will further be seen that with the provision of the pair of engineshaving operative connection with the sets. of propellers, the machinemay be readily steered thereby through the increasing or decreasing ofthe speed of one or the other. It will further be seen that I haveprovided means whereby both setsof of the machine may be propellers at.the ends operated by a single engine should one of the engines becomediswill be seen that through the useiof the parachutes and wings,.

abled. Further'more,l1t

the machine naybe. allowed to descend houtfi possibility ofaccident. llfurther .be seen-that the mae is of extremely simple convertical'planeby merely throwing the A the combination with a pair of 'struction, buteffective in operation and under perfect control at all times.

\Vhat I claim is i 1. In an aeroplane of the class described, thecombination with a pair of planes spaced one above the other, aplurality of prOpelleis-carried thereby and a source of power for saidpropellers; of a shaft extending longitudinally of the upper planeandrotatably mounted thereon, wings pivotally carried on the ends ofsaid shaft, and means to raise andlower said wings, a portion'of saidshaft. f I

2. In an aeroplane of the class described, the combination with a. pairof planes spaced one above the other, a plurality of propellers carriedthereon and a source of power for said propellers; of a shaft extendinglongitudinally of the upper plane and rotatably. mounted thereon, wingspivotally carried on the ends of said shaft beyond the ends of saidplanes, a lever pivotally mounted on said shaft intermediate .of itsends, and connecting means between said lever and the wings to raise andlower the latter as said lever is operated, said lever being alsoadapted for the rotation of said shaft.

3. In an aeroplane of the class described, the combination with a pairof planes spaced one above the other, a plurality of propellers carriedthereon and a source of power for the propellers; of a shaft extendinglongitudinally of the upper plane and rotatablym'ioilnted thereon, wingspivotally carried on the ends. of said shaft beyond the ends of saidplanes, on said shaftintermediate of its ends and extending through anopening in the upper plane, and means connecting said ,wmgs with thelever-above and below its pivotal point to raise andlower-said wings,said lever being also adapted to rotate said shaft.

4. In an aeroplane, of the class described, the combination with a pairof planes held in spaced relation with one another by said means beingalso adapted to rotate.

a lever pivotally carried means of a plurality of vertical bars, a pairadditional pairof horizontal shafts adj acent the ends'of' he lowerplanes, connecting means between said last referred to shafts and thepropeller shafts and means to independentlyrotate said additionalhorizontal hafts.

5. In an aeroplane of the class described, planes held in spacedrelation with one another by means of a plurality of vertical bars, apair of vertical shafts rotatably mounted on said planes 'at-both endsthereof; of an additional pair of horizontal shafts adjacent the ends ofthe lower plane, connecting means between said last referred to shaftsand the propeller shafts, means for the independent rotation of each ofsaid additional horizontal shafts,

and additional means to rotate the vertical propeller shaftsindependently of the horizontal propeller shafts.

' 6; 'In an aeroplane of the class described, the combination with apair of planes held ;in spaced relation with one another by means of aplurality of vertical. bars, a vertical shaft and a horizontal shaftrotatably ,mounted at each end of the planes, the vertical shafts havingpropeller blades mounted on the upper ends thereof and the horizontalshafts having propeller blades at both ends thereof; of a pair ofadditional horizontal shafts rotatably mounted adj aoent the ends of thelower plane, connecting means between said additional horizontal shaftsand the vertical and horizontal propeller shafts, a pair of motorsmounted on the lower plane and having operative connection with saidadditional horizontal shafts to rotate the sameindependently of oneanother, means to rotate said additional shafts from the same source ofpower, and additional means to operate the vertical propeller shaftsindependently of the horizontal propeller shafts.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature inthe presence of twowitnesses.

Y Y JOSIAH SPARKS.

Witnesses: v

OMAR C. REED, 'THoMAsM. WIMBERLEY.

